Lace-fastening for articles of clothing, such as boots and shoes.



A. SOHMITT.

LACE FASTENING FOR ARTICLES OF OLOTHINELSUGH AS BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED rm. 6, 1912.

1,@68,085. v Patented July 22, 1913.

vvuemtoz l vi/tmeowo v figdd gozmitt TTE Ill" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADAM SCHMITT, OF MAINZ, GERMANY.

LACE-FASTENING FOR ARTICLES 013 CLOTHING, SUCH AS BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 22, 1913.

Application filed February 6, 1912. Serial No. 675,867.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ADAM SGHMiT'r, a subject of the Grand Duke of Hesse, residing at Mainz, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and G-ern'lan Empire, have invented a new and useful Improved Lace-Fastening for Articles of Clothing, Such as Boots and tlhoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shoe-closures and pertains more particularly to the guide members for laces.

The object of the invention is to provide a guide member for shoe-laces which is so constructed as to enable the laces to slide freely and without friction through the guides, while they are at the same time securely held against any possible disengagement from said guides.

The invention also has as an object to provide a device of the character set forth which will act as a pulley, rather than as a mere guide in supporting the laces, thus avoiding a great deal of the wear on the latter and prolonging the life thereof.

With the above objects in View, the invention will be fully set forth in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l is a plan view of the lacing guide member, with certain parts shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2 is an elevation, Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a modified form of the device, Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a modified form of a lace fastening, Fig. 6 is a side elevation at right angles to Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a plan view of the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and Figs. 8 and 9 are elevations at right angles to one another of a further form of the device.

Referring more particularly to said drawings, 25 represents the tubular attaching member or shank of the lace guide or hook, and formed thereon is the enlarged tubular extension 26, which may be either eccentric to or concentric with the tubular member and forming a lacing member. The upper part of the extension 26 is outturned or flattened to form a head or top plate 27. By reason of the extension member, the guide portion of the device may have any desired diameter suited to the shoes or laces to which the guides are to be attached, and a seat 28 is provided between the member and the extension 26 which is adapted to bear on the leather of the shoe or shoes.

.As a part of the construction of the new lace guide members, tubular pieces 29 (serving as rollers) can be placed over the middle part 26 before the device is attached to the boot or the like, which rollers will facilitate the relative movement or action of the lace, reducing its friction and wear. The hollow part 26 serves to guide the device used for attaching the member to the boot, or the like, while the seat 28 takes up the pressure. Said hollow part 26 can also be utilized for the attachment of ornamental stones in any desired form. By covering the entire top plate 27 it is rendered unnecessary to employ a coating of celluloid or lacquer as heretofore.

In the present construction, the top plate or head 27 which is formed by the outturned portion of the member 26 is provided with the depending tongues or projections 30, which extend. to substantially the same plane as the seat 28, so that when the device is attached to the shoes, the tongues rest on or closely approach the leather of the latter. Thus, the lace, when guided around the body of the extension 26 lies under one or the other of the oppositely disposed tongues 30. The tongue which does not serve as a retainer for the lace, but lies on the opposite side of the guide member, bears against the leather, under the action of the strain of the lace, and prevents the guide member from being pulled crooked or to one side of its vertical axis.

The form of the top plate is a matter of preference or use and, if it is desired to effect a saving of material in the manufacture of the devices, the top plate can be made of the same width as the guard tongues or projections, in which case the guides would be formed with the tubular member 26 open, instead of as closed tubes, as shown. Such structures are shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 8 and 9. The head 27 is formed by opposite :tlat sections which are the same width as the downturned projections or tongues 30, so that in making the blanks, the metal is cut away on a line with the tongnesections, instead of cutting them round as in the case of the construction of Fig. 1. Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a further method of rounding or modifying the tongue, as at 30 to give access to certain hard woven round laces.

Where wide tongues are provided, the in sertion of the laces is rendered diflicult, if the tongues are not formed to make them readily yieldable to the pull of the strings. outer edges of said top-plate in spaced relaaway on a slant at the bottom, or either or both the lower corners can be rounded'as at 31 (Fig. 2), and in this manner a means for introducing the lace into the space between the leather and the tongue provided, the leather then readily yielding to the pressure of the lace.

The tongues are or may be also provided with the longitudinal ribs 32 and are or may be further reinforced by the inwardly pro jecting axial members or ribs 33. The latter also serve to bear on the leather of the shoe and prevent the-too heavypressure and wear of the'lower edges of the tongues 30 thereon.

Vhatl claim as my'invention is:

1. A sheet metal guide for shoe laces, comprising in combination, a tubular attaching member, a lacingmembe'r on the upper end of said tubular member, a right-angled outturned portion joining-said lacing member andsaid tubular member," forming thereby external and internal bearing-seats, an outwardly curved top plate formed on said lacing member and providing a substantially-' flat head, and guard tongues on the For this purpose, the tongues can be cut tion and parallel to said lacing member and terminating in the same plane with said bearing seats, said flat head being cut away on opposite sides to provide said guard tongues.

v 2. A sheet metal guide for shoe laces, comprising in combination, an attaching memher, a lacing member formed on the upper end of said attaching member, an outwardly turned top-plate formed on said lacing member and providing a fiat head around the edge of said lacing'member, and peripheral sections'on said flat head cut away to form oppositely disposed guard tongues, said guard tongues being projected vertically downwardly from the edges of said topplate in parallel spaced relation to said lacing member and terminating in the same plane with the base of said lacing member.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ADAM SCHMITT.

WVitnesses JEAN GRUND, GARL GRUND.

Copies of thispatent may be obtained for *five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

